Kharif farming in full swing

Sowing of cotton, soyabean, maize and red-gram have picked up though transplantation of paddy remains sluggish all over the State, including rain-fed areas in Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts.

29 per cent of normal area sown in the State

In spite of the week-long dry spell prevailing in the State, the area sown during the kharif season has gone up to 23.3 lakh hectares — 29 per cent of the season’s normal of 81.12 lakh ha.

Sowing of cotton, soyabean, maize and red-gram have picked up though transplantation of paddy remains sluggish all over the State, including rain-fed areas in Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts.

Into its 30 day, the South-West monsoon has ensured excess rainfall to Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nizamabad, Medak, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Mahabubnagar and Khammam districts, but did not benefit Visakhapatnam, Nellore and Anantapur which reported deficit. The remaining districts received normal rainfall.

A larger area would have been under crop but for the fact that no significant inflows reached the reservoirs of major projects across the Godavari, Krishna, Penna and Vamsadhara.

They are devoid of any inflows because of lack of rains in the catchment areas lying in the neighbouring States.

Whatever meagre inflows being received now in the Krishna river, were being absorbed by the

Almatti dam. Andhra Pradesh has to wait for some more time for water to flow into Jurala, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar. The crest-gates of Almatti will be lifted only after full storage (129 tmcft) is achieved in its reservoir.

All the 15 major projects in the State, including Srisailam and Nagarjunagsar, now account for a combined storage of 243 tmcft and this was 641 tmcft short of their full capacity which is 884 tmcft.

There is no improvement in the storage of Sriramsagar as it was getting a negligible inflow of 267 cusecs.

Slideshow

Workers carryingout repairs to Visakhapatnam District Collector's Office, as it was damaged in Cyclone Hudhud in 2014 October. The majestic heritage building was designed and built by Dutch engineering company Gannon Dunkerly in 1865 and completed by 1914. Photos: C.V. Subrahmanyam